APATHETIC (Mafia and Roses - # 2)

Chapter 1

“How does it feel to be Colton’s secretary?” Nolan, asks as I place down my cup of coffee cautiously.

“Colton? How should I start? He is quite the boss everyone wants to work for, but there’s more to Colton than the crowd knows.” I say and he leans on this cross fingers with an eager look on this face.

“C’mon tell me about it.” He says and I smirk.

“It’s a secret.” I reply and raise my cup of coffee to my lips.

“Ever since the first day you stepped into the Uni, I have been your best friend. We have been friends for the past five years and I never asked you about Colton ever since you’ve been working with him. C’mon Kiki, you have worked with Colton for six months and this is the first time I am asking, you should really tell me.” He says and I narrow my eyes at him.

“You are still the only one calling me Kiki. When will you start calling me Mia? By the way, I hope you aren’t trying to find out how I feel because you think I am already falling in love with him and you do not want me to because you are now in love with me.” I say and he rolls his eyes.

“Mia, C’mon we are best of friends. I can’t afford to ruin our friendship.” He defends himself and I smile.

“I know and you know my actual story, love isn’t meant for me. I will never fall in love again.” I say and he gives me a weak smile.

“Now tell your curious best friend about Colton.” He says with a wink and I scoff as I blow my coffee.

“Before I start with Colton, did you really break off things with Cara? You still love her, don’t you?” I ask and he sighs.

He raises his hand and the owner of the coffee shop walks over to us. Nolan orders for the cup of Coffee he didn’t want to have until I asked about Cara.

“I do, but I can’t get the fact that she deceived me out of my mind. She was all for me, but I wasn’t all for her. I do not even know where I am in her heart, I thought I was all she had… because she has been all I had for the past six years. I can’t get the night I proposed a relationship between the two of us when we were selected as prom’s king and queen out of mu head, the fact that I can never forget that night. You know, that night never got out of my mind and that made her to be my one and only. But it wasn’t the same for her, she cheats perfectly. I never for once caught her until three months ago. I forgave her, but she continued and I just can’t bear it anymore. The lady I thought will be the mother of my future kids was nothing, but an easy woman who opened her legs easily for her male friends and boss. Oh my goodness, Mia I do not want to talk about this. You’ve been betrayed and hurt before, so you understand me.” He finishes and I nod.

“Yeah, right. I’m sorry.” I say and he moves his hand over the table to hold my hand.

“I’m sorry I reminded you of your past, I didn’t mean to.” He says and I nod.

“You asked about how it feels to work with Colton. Well, Colton is quite the demanding boss. Of course, no one would know that except his secretary who is the closest to him. I told you this the first few weeks I worked with him, ‘That cold blooded hotie is nothing, but an asshole who keeps having paper works as if he works in a book company.’ Remember?” I ask and he nods.

“Yeah, I remember that but you stopped making that statement three months after working with him.” He says and I nod.

“You were busy with Cara then so we didn’t have time to talk about many things. Yes, I actually stopped that statement three months after working with him, because he stopped giving me lots of paper works. I now go to his penthouse every morning to wake him up, pick the shirt, shoe, suit and tie he will wear daily. I go out as his date every time he needs to appear at an event with a girlfriend.” I tell him.

“Why does a rich hot guy not have a girlfriend?” He asks.

“Well, for the past six months I have worked with him, I got to discover that he has no interest in women.” I say and he moves his hand to his mouth.

“Then is he gay?” He asks.

“No way, I caught him j*********f from watching a woman on screen once.” I say and he opens his mouth in shock.

“Then is he a p*****t?” He asks and I laugh.

“No, he hates women because a woman changed his elder brother who he loved so much into a broken man.” I reply.

“How do you know so much about him, no boss will ever tell his secretary this much.” He replies and I sigh.

“Right, but Colton and I got close a bit. The night his Mom told him to get a woman or he would lose his position as the heir to the company. He got really drunk and I was the one to take him home because he sent his driver away, that night…”

“You considered sleeping with him?” He asks cutting me off.

“No, never! I am not a fan of love or one night stands, they bring back painful memories. That night, he told me a lot of things he will never actually tell me.” I say.

“Did he tell you he fell in love with you at first sight and that was why he hired you?” He asks.

“No, i***t! I got hired because I was qualified for the position. He told me about his elder brother in his drunk state.” I reply.

“His brother’s relationship shouldn’t define his.” He says and before I can reply my phone rings.

The Head of department’s secretary who became my friend at work after she spilled a cup of coffee on my white dress’s name flashes across my phone’s screen.

“Sorry, Nolan. I need to take this.” I say and he gives me a nod.

“Yeah…” He replies.

“Mia.” I say into the phone.

“What?! You and Colton are together now and you never bothered to let me know?” She says and I open my mouth in shock.

“Emma, I know you joke a lot but this quite an expensive one.” I say and she makes her usual ‘oh my oh my’ statement.

“You aren’t aware yourself and it’s already on the front page of all the newspapers and the current News headlines.” She says and I urge Nolan to give me his phone.

I unlock it and search for Colton and my name. My mouth drops open as I frown.

“Thank you, Emma.” I say and end the call.

“Is everything okay?” Nolan asks.

“No, Bye for now. I have to go, I’ll catch up with you later.” I say and drop his phone on the table.

I run of the coffee shop, not minding my hurting feet which I forced into a pair of pumps this morning as anger boils through my veins.

“How could he? Who does…” The rest of my words are muffled as I feel a strong hand cover my mouth.

 I’m forced into a limo and before I can open my mouth to cuss or try to unlock my phone to call the cops, Colton himself taps my shoulder.

“I am your fiancée?” I ask and he holds my hand.

“I’m sorry, it’s not my fault.” He says,

“Then is it mine?” I ask with a shout.

“No.” He replies.

“You blackmailed me and now you abducted me?” I shout.

“Mia, I’m sorry this happened and there is an explanation for this. By the way, this isn’t an a*******n. You should thank me for saving you from the press.” He says and I look at the window.

“Can I not just tell them this is all false?” I ask and he sighs.

“No, Mia. You will do no such thing. This is all my mother’s doing, she backed up all this false news with our previous fake dates and now, I can’t afford to go against my mother because I can’t afford to allow my cousin take over a company I worked hard to have. You can just do this for me. Please Mia, just take this as an extension of work. A contract will be prepared by my lawyer, you will get a lot from this and I won’t be getting married to you. We can just prolong our fake courtship until the company is handed over to me in six months.” He says and I look at the press through the window.

ALEJANDRO’S POV.

I stare blankly at the newspaper in front of me as I, Mike and Joe walks in.

“Brother, you shouldn’t look at that.” Joe says.

“I know she was more like a daughter and sister, even a best friend but she neglected us all. Ever since we woke up from our unconscious state, she never for once bothered to call any of us.” Mike says as he sits next to Joe and I sigh.

“Get rid of Kiki in your heart, she moved on already. The newspaper in front of you is a living proof. Lucy is there for you, she has always been. I hated her so much at a point, but now I understand her so much.” Joe adds.

“You two don’t know the depth of pain I feel. Do you two think I could ever fall in love again? Kiki promised to never leave me. I knew we all deceived her, but couldn’t she understand the fact that we kept it away from her for her own sake?  For the past five years, there is not a single day that went by without my heart drifting back to the pain I felt when she was abducted, when she found out we were into the Mafia and most of all when we lost Tito. I talk myself into hating her badly, but it just never works.” I say with a hoarse voice.

“As time goes on, you will love Lucy.” Mike says.

“Love doesn’t exist, love is a toxic feeling. It destroys a lot of things and change good people to bad.” I reply as I hold my head in my hands.

“Whatever the case may be, accept your parent’s offer to get you and Lucy married. Even if it is for the clouts, who knows love might bloom.” Joe adds and I laugh bitterly.

A soft knock is heard on the door and my mom walks in without waiting for a reply.

“Joe, Mike. Kindly give us a minute or two.” My mom says and they nod before stepping out.

“If Kiki’s parents has consented to you getting married to your ex, then why are you still stubborn? I know we all loved Kiki, but she moved on and you should too Son. I love you and I have never been happy for the past six years because you have been broken. Please, try to find happiness from now on. If you do not want to get back with Lucy because she is your ex, then you can meet up with other women, you are no longer young. You are now thirty-one, you deserve to be happy.” My mom says as soon as my best friends step out.

“You don’t have to worry much, I will get married to Lucy.” I say still looking at the picture of Kiki and her boss on the front of page of the newspaper.

“Whatever makes you happy, son. Oh! And Lucy’s parent will be coming over for the dinner, have Joe and Mike wait behind.” She says and kiss my forehead before walking out.

Shoving everything on my desk to the tiled floor, I groan and bury my head in palms. I open my side drawer and begin writing the contract rules.

1. Non dobbiamo mai dormire sullo stesso letto.

2. Nessuna interazione fisica, ad eccezione delle esposizioni pubbliche.

3. Questo è un matrimonio combinato che durerà solo sei mesi.

4. Ciascuna parte ha diritto a una relazione esterna, ma non deve mai essere resa pubblica.

1.       We must never sleep on the same bed.

2.       No physical interactions, except for public displays.

3.       This is an arranged marriage which would last for just six months.

4.       Each party is entitled to an external relationship, but must never be made public.

I write and shut my eyes close as I can’t seem to think of anymore words. For years, I never heard that she wanted to get engaged to a man and so I thought she was still keeping the promises we had between us despite the fact that we are no longer together.  

Standing up, I walk over to my new collection of liquors and take one.

“Hapsburg Gold Label Premium Reserve Absinth.” I read out the name and nod.  

I walk back to my sit with the liquor and a glass. Filling the glass to the brim, I raise the cup to my lips after going through the usual process of changing its color.

“Cheers to lots of heartbreak.” I murmur as I move the glass away from my lips and clink my glass with the bottle of the liquor.

I fill my head ache after minutes and a little light headed, causing me to rest my head on the table.

I feel a continuous tap on my arms and I raise my now heavy head.

“You decided to drink an absinth when you have a family dinner in the next twenty minutes. We left you here for just six hours and this is the mess you made of yourself? Waking up with bloodshot eyes and a pounding head? C’mon snap out of it brother.” Joe says and I move the back of my hand to my mouth.

“Alejandro, I have heard of love breaking people, but it has been more than five years now. Get over her already, snap out of it! She left us all, we move!” Mike shouts and I rub my temple with my index finger to lessen the headache I feel.

I stand up, but my blurred vision and light head makes me sit back almost immediately.

“Kiki is gone, she left. Do you know the effect of absinth? You could go blind from drinking it often. It might result into hallucinations and mental disorder, and that’s what I never want to happen to you. If you do not want to get back with Lucy, it’s fine. You can continue with just the mafia business.” Joe says and I groan.

“It’s too dangerous, it could have killed you right before you finished a glass. You have a long life. Were you trying to kill yourself? I thought you’ve stopped trying to kill yourself. Alejandro, we are here for you. We care about you, over the years even right before everything happened you have been like a brother to me. Please stop, Joe order one of the maids to clear off all the absinth.” I hear Mike say from afar, but through my blurred vision he is just right in front of me.

“It’s better to just break all the liquors, we can’t let him continue drinking and this absinth is the worst of them all. I regret ever being a mafia, look what it did to us all. If it weren’t for the mafia, we won’t have access to a banned liquor. Mike, hand over the golf club.” Joe  says and I rest my head back on my desk with shut eyes.

I hear constant shattering of glasses, but I can’t move.

“Get out!” I hear Joe shouts and then a banged door.

“I should call Dr. Bane…” Mike says and I hear a phone ringing sound.

“Let me talk to him please. Dr. Bane we know he has been drinking for the past few years, but this is a near emergency and you should be here in the next ten minutes please. He drank a whole glass of absinth.” Joe says and I feel someone shake me, but I can’t seem to move.

“What did Dr. Bane say?”

“He said we should move him to his room. He needs to rest. Let Erica know the dinner meeting with Lucy and her parents should be canceled.” Joe replies.

“I think they are here already, Erica would be coming up now…” Mike trails off.

“What’s wrong with my son?” I hear my mom ask.

“Absinth…” Mike replies.

“Dr. Bane.” My mom says.

“On his way.” Mike replies.

“No, he should be here by now.” I hear Joe say as I feel their hands on my arms.

“We need to get him to his room.” Mike says and I feel myself stand up with their assistance.

I hear a distant scream and then Lucy’s voice…

“What’s wrong with him?” She asks and my mom mutters.

“Dr. Bane, is he going to be okay?” Lucy asks as I feel the bed weigh down on my back.

“I will run a quick test first.” I hear Dr. Bane say.

“Hurry up.” Lucy says.

“Lucy, if you can’t keep still and quite please leave.” Dr. Bane says.

“I’m sorry, I’m just too worried.” She replies.

“Alejandro, can you hear me? If you can, raise your left index finger.” He says and I budge weakly.

“Thank goodness.” My mom says.

“The effect won’t wear off until tomorrow, but I will to make him rest for hours. A sedative would help him rest well, you all can leave.” He says and I feel myself blackout as memories with Kiki plays in my head.

 I feel  wetness on the bridge of my nose and a slight pain in my arm.

“He is crying.” Lucy’s words are the last I hear.